South Korea posted a huge trade deficit with the United States on agricultural products and livestock last year as their price competitiveness has attracted consumers, government data showed Saturday.South Korea's agricultural goods and meat exports to the US reached $716 million last year while imports amounted to $6.9 billion, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. (Yonhap)Seoul's trade deficit with the US in the sector came in at $6.14 billion in 2016, the data show

Prosecutors on Saturday questioned a former key election campaigner of the People's Party as part of its probe into a fake tipoff scandal involving some members of the minor opposition party.The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office quizzed Kim In-won, the vice head of the party's former fair election panel, in connection with the allegations that a party member doctored a tipoff against President Moon Jae-in's son in the run-up to the May 9 poll.Kim In-won, a former election campaigner of

North Korea on Saturday criticized South Korean President Moon Jae-in's initiative for cross-border rapprochement as "sophistry" in its first response to the proposal made last week.The Rodong Sinmun, the North's main newspaper, said the so-called Berlin initiative, which Moon announced in the German capital last Thursday, would not be helpful in improving inter-Korean ties long strained amid the reclusive state's relentless provocations."The overall content, enumerated under the name of peace,

South Korea should aim to generate 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources, phasing out nuclear and coal power plants simultaneously, Greenpeace executive director Jennifer Morgan said. Praising the local government’s decision to retire old nuclear reactors and stop building new ones, the top environmental activist also stressed the importance of a national effort to save energy and the need to craft polices in a clear and transparent manner to benefit all, not a select few with vested

Household products company Reckitt Benckiser Korea, which has been blamed for the largest number of victims from the use of toxic humidifier disinfectants since 2011, came under fire for its compensation plan that only covers victims classified as categories 1-2 by the government.Victims, their families and civic groups remain opposed to the plan, as it neglects victims classified under categories 3-4, whose suffering was deemed less directly connected to the problematic products. They denounced

서울시는 지난 토요일 서울시청 신청사 다목적홀에서 ‘시민이 찾은 길 위의 예술 성과발표회’를 개최, 3개월간 진행된 대장정의 막을 내렸다.작년에 이어 올해 두 번째로 진행된 공공미술 시민발굴단 사업을 통해 101명의 시민발굴단과 11명의 전문 큐레이터가 서울의 아름다운 공공미술작품과 도시환경을 저해하고 개선했으면 하는 공공미술작품을 찾아다녔다.　 지난 토요일 서울시청 신청사 다목적홀에서 열린 ‘시민이 찾은 길 위의 예술 성과발표회’에 참여한 참가자들 (서울시 제공)지난 6월 공무원 정년퇴직하고 시민발굴단 사업에 참가한 강 모 씨는 오랫동안 다녔던 직장과는 전혀 다른 일, 내가 평소에 꼭 해보고 싶었던 일을 할 기회가 생겨 본 사업에 참여하였으며 활동 기간에 뜨거운 태양 아래를 다니면서 많은 사람을 만나고 인생의 아름다운 추억의 한 페이지를 만드는 기회였다고 활동 소감을 밝혔다.　‘우리가 기억하고 싶은 서울‘을 주제로 공공미술을 통해 서울의 기억과 흔적을 탐방한 정요한 씨는 “우리가

Some 100 Seoul residents, art connoisseurs and city officials gathered at Seoul City Hall on Saturday to mark the completion of a two-month program to find and promote lesser-known street art and landmarks in the capital city. 　Seoul citizens, art connoisseurs and city officials are gathered at Seoul City Hall to mark the completion of the “Art on Seoul’s Streets Found by Citizens” project on Saturday. (The Seoul Metropolitan Government)Under the “Art on Seoul’s Streets Found by Citizens” projec

Over 360 residents of Jindo, an island off South Korea’s southwestern coast, suffer post-traumatic stress disorder after a passenger ship sank near the island in April 2014, killing nearly 300 on board, a survey showed Friday. A study conducted by a team led by Lee Ju-yeon, a professor of mental health at Chonnam National University, found that 362 residents, or 16 percent of the island’s entire population, complained of PTSD-related symptoms, including recurring memories of the day of the disas

The Government Employees Pension Service has recognized the deaths of two Danwon High School contract teachers in the Sewol ferry disaster as being in the line of duty, in a reversal of its previous stance.  (Yonhap)They were accompanying students on a field trip when the ship sank in April 2014, leaving nearly 300 people dead or missing. The bereaved families of Kim Cho-won and Lee Ji-hye are now entitled to due treatment from the government, including monthly pensions of up to 26 percent of th

An association of Korean dog meat vendors staged a protest in central Seoul on Thursday, calling on the government to separate dogs as pets and for human consumption and legalize dog meat trade. 　 Nearly 1,500 people gathered near City Hall in one of the largest pro-dog meat rallies ever held in South Korea.  An association of Korean dog meat vendors is staging a protest in central Seoul on Thursday. (Yonhap)Criticizing animal rights group for putting animals’ rights before theirs, they said it

State prosecutors have launched an investigation into a domestic baby goods manufacturer after scores of children using the company’s baby mats developed skin rashes and cough. Parents of some 90 children, 30 of them aged 4 or below, have filed damage reports since June 8, when the first such claim against the product from Borny Korea was filed. Instagram capture of a baby's back with skin rash. (Instagram capture)Mothers claimed to have found white, powdery residue from the mat and suspect the

The Seoul Metropolitan Government on Wednesday announced a plan to give some 24,000 long-term contract workers at municipal organizations full-time, permanent employment status by the year-end.President Moon Jae-in speaks to non-regular workers at Incheon International Airport on May 12. (Yonhap)Eleven companies, including Seoul Metro, Seoul Facilities Corp. and Seoul Medical Center, are currently preparing for the transition, which would require budget expansions and organizational changes, the